Florida’s Crist May Run Again; GOP Says Its Ready

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Now that former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist is a Democrat, pretty much everyone in Florida’s political world expects him to seek his old job.

“I will consider it, and I will think about it,” Crist told The Associated Press by phone while boating off of Miami and before a planned dinner Saturday evening with former Democratic governor and Sen. Bob Graham.

The former Republican governor revealed his long-anticipated conversion Friday, after more than two years as an independent. He made the announcement on Twitter and included a photo of his new voter registration form, which he filled out at the White House.

Earlier Saturday, Florida Republicans gathered for a meeting and said they will be extra motivated to re-elect Gov. Rick Scott if his opponent is Crist, who left the GOP during his 2010 run for Senate.

“Bring it on,” Peter Feaman, the party’s national committeeman, told a room of Republican activists. “That man sat at my house, in my kitchen, at my breakfast table and told me he was a Ronald Reagan Republican. OK, I’m putting my boots on, because guess what? You lied to me.”

Should the 56-year-old Crist run, he could become the first person to run for Florida governor as a Republican and as a Democrat. Crist only served one term before choosing to run for Senate instead of re-election.

Republicans, anticipating the switch, have been attacking him for months. As Crist campaigned with President Barack Obama and other Democrats during the fall, Republicans ran a television ad and issued scores of press releases pointing out his previous conservative positions.

“I really feel at home. A lot of it was inspired by what Democrats have stood for, and honestly, friends have told me most of my political life, ‘Charlie, you’re really a Democrat and you just don’t know it,” Crist said.

Crist was a moderate governor and met often with Democratic leaders. At dinners in the governor’s mansion, he includes both Republicans and Democrats at his head table. He endeared himself to the teachers union by vetoing a Republican priority bill that would have stripped teachers of tenure and based merit raises on test scores. He also won over many black leaders by championing civil rights issues, prompting one black lawmaker to describe him as the first black governor.

Since leaving the GOP, Crist, who called himself “the people’s governor” while in office, has criticized the party for going too far to the right. Crist has already criticized Scott for refusing to extend early voting despite pleas from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and other Democrats.

“The leadership of the party lately has gone off the cliff, I wasn’t comfortable enough,” Crist said. “What I love most about our state is our people … I just have a feeling in my heart right now that leadership doesn’t appreciate that fact.”